Take up challenge to shape world

Last week, I was pleased to be a guest speaker at Regent College, in Leicester, to answer questions from some of the students studying politics and citizenship. There were some excellent questions about Government policy and political parties.

However, one student who asked why the House of Commons was not representative of the British population might have got more than she bargained for when I urged her to stand for Parliament in the future!

I hope she (and others there) will take up the challenge of standing for election.

Parliament will only change and look more like modern Britain if people decide to stand and make a difference.

One of the ways we can all make a difference and secure the world we want is to take part in the UN Global Survey.

This initiative launched by United Nations general secretary Ban Ki-moon is asking for people's views on the issues the UN should prioritise from 2015.

More than two million people worldwide have taken part so far, either by speaking at the travelling podium or voting online at:

http://vote.myworld2015.org/en/

Iwas pleased to appear at the podium in a rather rainy Trafalgar Square this week and vote in favour of ending discrimination and inequality between men and women around the world.

The appalling news of the kidnapping in Nigeria of hundreds of girls has shocked MPs on all sides of the Commons, as well as many millions of others around the world.

I spent part of this week working on a statement signed by female MPs from across the Commons condemning in the strongest possible terms the sickening crimes being perpetrated against schoolgirls in northern Nigeria.

The brutal treatment of girls seeking an education – a right we take for granted for our daughters – demonstrates the cruelty and immorality of this group.

We welcomed the work the Government has done already and support continuing work with the Nigerian authorities and international partners to help bring an end to this heartbreaking situation and reunite these girls with their families as soon as possible.

Iwas also pleased to attend the launch of a campaign encouraging more students, particularly girls, to study science and maths at school or college.

Under this Government, the number of young people studying physics and maths at A-level is at a record level and a record number of girls and boys take GCSE physics.

Since 2010, the proportion of pupils taking maths has increased by 19.2 per cent and the number taking physics has increased by 22 per cent.

However, we still suffer from a broken pipeline at 16, with only 2 per cent of girls taking A-level physics and only 8 per cent taking maths.

The figures for boys, at 7 per cent and 14 per cent, are not much better – and much lower than our international competitors.

This is despite the fact maths is the only A-level to command a distinct earnings premium.

A student with A-level maths can expect to earn 10 per cent more than their peers in their 30s.

The Your Life campaign – yourlife.org.uk – already has support from a range of top businesses and the campaign board has announced its ambition to increase the number of students taking A-level maths and physics by 50 per cent within three years.